Title: Risk & Compliance Business Partner
Potters Bar, GB
Canada Life UK looks after the retirement, investment and protection needs of individuals, families and companies. We help to build better futures for our customers, our intermediaries and our employees by operating as a modern, agile and welcoming organisation.
Part of our parent company Great-West Lifeco, Canada Life UK has operated in the United Kingdom since 1903. We have hundreds of respected and supported employees committed to doing the right thing for our customers and colleagues.
Canada Life UK is transforming to create a more customer-focused business by providing our customers with expertise on financial and tax planning, offering home finance and annuities propositions, and providing collective fund solutions to third party customers.
Job Summary:
A direct report of the Head of Risk & Compliance – Operations, People & Customer (HRC - OPC) responsible for the oversight of compliance and non-financial risk across Canada Life UK (CLUK). This role provides key support to the HRC - OPC in ensuring that there is appropriate risk and compliance management across the business aligning strategy, risk appetite, and guaranteeing good customer outcomes. The focus of the role is likely to cover oversight of third party, operational resilience, people and change risk. The role holder will encourage, advocate and lead an appropriate risk culture across CLUK to meet the needs of the full range of stakeholders (including Board, executive, Lifeco group and regulators).
This role is primarily responsible for providing key support to the HRC – OPC in the oversight of compliance and non-financial risks in all our people and operations functions, including change programmes, and supports the HRC – OPC in their capacity as the Risk and Compliance Business partner for those functions, covering the full CLUK risk universe, with a focus on customer and regulatory compliance risk. Working across the Risk & Compliance function, the role supports the HRC – OPC in sharing insights with other risk and compliance business partners contributing to the oversight of non-financial risk across CLUK.
It is expected that the role holder will have a background in risk (first or second line), compliance or internal audit, and identifying the non-financial risk drivers for all aspects of operational risk.
Duties / Responsibilities:
1) Business Partnering:
Support the HRC – OPC in engaging with and providing oversight primarily of Operations and People functions. This covers oversight and challenge of the nature of non-financial risk exposures and their impact on CLUK across the whole risk universe. Specific accountabilities for this role include oversight of the following areas:
- Operational resilience
- Third party/supplier
- Change execution
- People
2) Leadership:
Support the HRC – OPC in providing non-financial risk leadership to the risk and compliance team in line with our corporate values in the achievement of the business and individual objectives, including the provision of operational, regulatory and technical risk guidance. This specifically includes assisting the HRC – OPC in supporting the objectives of a team of Risk and Compliance business partners focused on operations (third party, operational resilience, change), people and customer.
3) Risk Management Framework:
Champion the three lines of defence model for risk management across Customer functions.
Support the HRC – OPC in the implementation of the Great West Life ERM framework across the Operations and People divisions (and support other divisions) ensuring non-financial risk is adequately mitigated, including the oversight of compliance with relevant regulations, and follow good practice relative to peer companies. This will include implementation, embedding and maintenance of:
o Risk strategy, consistent with the business strategy and business objectives
o Risk universe
o Risk appetite framework
o Risk and Compliance policies
o Risk and Compliance oversight and assurance, including regulatory and reputational
o Risk identification, assessment, measurement, monitoring and reporting
o Risk and Compliance mandate requirements
o Advising and providing oversight on operational risk scenarios
4) Compliance and Non-Financial Risk:
Support the HRC – OPC in the work (with the Director of Compliance & Regulatory Affairs) to:
o Provide oversight and advice on customer and conduct risks
o Contribute to the development of a compliance and non-financial risk monitoring and oversight plan and support delivery.
o Understand regulatory priorities and ensure that the business teams are progressing the delivery of new regulatory requirements to meet regulators’ expectations.
o Support the understanding and management of compliance and risk skills and capabilities across the risk and compliance teams.
o Support the evaluation of compliance effectiveness and maturity in relations to Operations’ functions.
o Support the HRC – OPC in ensuring that non-financial risks and impacts on customer outcomes and potential for customer harm are understood and reflected in Business Line Risk Management and decision making. This includes gaining an understanding of CLUK Customer compliance requirements, and communicating these across CLUK to reflect those requirements.
5) Reporting and Review:
Support the HRC – OPC in the quality review process for CRO and CCO reporting across non-financial risks, including Executive and Board committees for all CLUK entities.
Experience Required:
• Good interpersonal/networking skills, with the ability to maintain a variety of relationships with multiple stakeholders
• Strong communication skills, demonstrating a clear and articulate standard of written and verbal communication in a complex environment, tailored for all levels of management.
• Extensive experience in the life insurance industry, including management positions, or retail financial services.
• Comprehensive knowledge of enterprise risk management and the relevant regulations, including the technical aspects relating to the quantification and analysis of a wide range of risks.
• Oversight, or management of, non-financial risk and the various approaches to monitor, model and report on non-financial risk.
• Understanding and application of embedding and maintaining an enterprise risk management framework.
• Experience of “second line of defence” risk oversight and challenge activities.
• Ability to manage and motivate others with varying levels of experience.
• Strong influencing skills, with experience of engaging with senior management in order to get a desired outcome.
• Proven track record at delivering reporting requirements under tight time pressure with attention to detail.
Qualifications:
Relevant risk or compliance qualification (desirable)
Benefits of working at Canada Life
We believe in recognising and rewarding our people, so we offer a competitive salary and benefits package that’s regularly reviewed. As a Canada Life UK colleague, you’ll receive a competitive salary and comprehensive reward package including a generous pension and bonus scheme, along with, income protection, private medical insurance and life assurance. We have a fantastic number of other benefits and support services as well as regular personal and professional development.
How we work at Canada Life
Our culture is unique and incredibly important to us. We care about doing the right thing for our people, customers and community and helping others to build better futures. Our blueprint behaviours shape and influence how we work, and are central to the relationships we have with others. Every day we are encouraged to be more curious, own the outcome, face into things together and find a way forward.
We want colleagues to have rewarding careers with us so we invest in the development of our people, technology and workplaces. That’s why we offer a range of training, flexible working and opportunities to grow and develop.
Diversity and inclusion
Building an inclusive workplace with a diverse workforce where everyone can feel they belong and achieve their potential regardless of gender, ethnicity or any other characteristic is a key commitment for us. We are proud of the progress we’re making in DEI, and we continue for it to be a significant focus.
“At Canada Life we believe in the power of great people from different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives coming together to build better futures. Emerging talent is crucial to our growth and creating an environment that continues to inspire us all.” Nick Harding, Chief People Officer, Canada Life UK
We appreciate that everyone has different work and life responsibilities. We’re happy to discuss flexible working arrangements, including part time, for any of our roles should this be a requirement for.